Should We Talk About Sin?

NOTE: This was written 12 days ago and it is even more relevant today!

I have heard a lot recently about Christians not calling things sin. The idea is that we are being judgmental and hateful when we call different behaviors sinful. Even some well- intentioned Christians repeat this ideology. I want you to think about a seemingly unrelated scenario for just a moment.

Imagine that someone you love went to the doctor because they did not feel well. The doctor ran a lot of tests, and then told your loved one that there was nothing wrong. They are healthy as a horse. Six months later, your loved one dies, and it is revealed that they had a completely treatable form of cancer. Of course, you are livid, and you go to the doctor who ran the tests to ask him what happened. He tells you that, yes, he knew your loved one had cancer, but he didn't want to upset them or come across as hateful because of the bad news.

We would all agree that the doctor should lose their medical license! That would be an obvious case of malpractice. We would all be upset if we read about a case like this in the newspaper. We would all be really upset if it happened to someone we know. So think about this, why do we get mad at preachers for calling out sin? Sin is more deadly than cancer. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death...". The Prophet Ezekiel said, "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20). John wrote, "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15).

At the same time, if a doctor was going to tell us that we have cancer, we would want them to have a good bedside manner. We would want them to convey the news with love. We would not want them to get in our face, yelling, and say "Hey stupid. You must not be doing something right! You have cancer and you are going to die!". The doctor needs to speak the truth of the patient's condition in love. Just as we expect this from our doctors, we as Christians are commanded to do the same. Paul wrote, " but, speaking the truth in love..." (Ephesians 4:15).

Here are two quick points:

1. Speak the truth. Some behaviors are sin. God pointed this out in the Garden in Genesis. Every prophet in the Old Testament pointed this out. Jesus pointed this out. His Apostles pointed this out.

2. Speak in love. God revealed His law to us to protect us. It was not about harming, but rather setting up boundaries to keep us safe. He knew that what was outside those boundaries would hurt us, so He lovingly gave us His law and the knowledge of sin. We are to do the same. When we preach about sin, we should do so in love because we are trying to draw people to Christ, not run them off.

To ignore sin is to ignore a massive portion of scripture. Also, if we never preach sin, then why do people need to be saved? What are they being saved from? Even after salvation, we preach sin and hold each other accountable. Too many Christians want Jesus to save them from the consequences of their sins, but not actually save them from their sins. They want to keep doing what they are doing without consequences. Jesus loved us so much that He didn't come to only save us from consequences, but to change us. To help us repent and walk away from sin, so that we can be more like Him. So that we can be more like God created us to be. No, we will not be perfect in this world, but that doesn't mean that we stop trying to get there.

Father, thank You for giving us Your law. You give us clearly marked boundaries that if we stay within we will not face the consequences of sin. However, we all like sheep go astray. You lovingly bring us back, but we keep wanting to wander off. I pray that we would not get mad when someone else tells us to stay inside the fence. Help us to lovingly hold others accountable as well.